{"id":3203,"slug":"eastland-site-chicago-illinois","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Eastland is the docked — the '15 capsize at the pier, the 844 who died in 20 feet. The picnic was the Western — the Electric employees who boarded, the excursion that was the trip. The listing was the chronic — the '04 near-capsize that was the warning, the lifeboats that made it worse.","The Titanic was the cause — the extra boats that raised the top, the '15 loading that's the limit. The armory was the morgue — the rows of bodies that filled it, the 889 that were counted. Eastland is the Chicago's — the deadliest day that's the record, the river that's the grave.","The file keeps the Eastland: the 1915 capsize, the 844 dead, the docked roll, and the lifeboat irony.","Eastland is the archive's Chicago file — the docked disaster."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Eastland is the archive's Chicago file — the deadliest day.","A ship keeps its pier — the file's suggestion being that the Eastland's hold is the irony: the lifeboats that killed it, the 20 feet that was the depth, and the 844 who drowned at dock."]}],"name":"Eastland site","aliases":[],"type":"SITE","type_label":"Site","cats":["DARK_HISTORY","LOCAL_FOLKLORE","MARITIME","DISASTER"],"groups":["dark-history","legends"],"desc":"July 24, 1915—the ship that rolled at the dock, 844 dead.","full_desc":"A site in Chicago, Illinois, Eastland site is filed here for what the record attaches to it. July 24, 1915—the ship that rolled at the dock, 844 dead. HauntHunt files it with maritime history, disasters and dark history. The presences in its file go unnamed: the eastland dead, the record says. The dossier holds 2 reported claims, 1 legend and 1 documented fact, with the verified spine filed separately from the lore. The site is open to visitors.","address":null,"city":"Chicago","county":null,"state":"Illinois","postal":null,"region":"Midwest","lat":41.837045,"lon":-87.684939,"coord_kind":"CITY","status":"ACTIVE","access":"PUBLIC","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":"Historic site / memorial","research_notes":"dark2 batch; VERIFY task auto-queued.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":59.4,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.65,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":0.3999999999999999,"paranormal_claim_provenance":0.8,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0.7,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[{"id":3214,"type":"NAMED_GHOST_LEGEND","description":"The dead are reportedly seen. The presences go by the Eastland dead in the file. Eastland site's file is thin on proof and long on persistence — the standard profile of American place-lore. The story is documented as legend — recorded and retold, never verified as fact. A ghost with a name outlasts a ghost without one; the reports keep it employed.","evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","evidence_label":"Documented legend","entity":"The Eastland dead","where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"SS Eastland site","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Eastland","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]},{"id":3215,"type":"APPARITION","description":"Reported figures on the river. The site in Chicago, Illinois gives the account a documented setting: real place, real history, unresolved reports. The reports are anecdotal — consistent enough to record, thin enough to stay unproven. It is the sighting the place is known for, and it hasn't stopped. The report keeps its place in the record.","evidence":"ANECDOTAL","evidence_label":"Anecdotal","entity":null,"where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"SS Eastland site","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Eastland","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[{"description":"The July 24, 1915 rollover is documented; 844 died. The site's documented history is the record the rest of the file stands on. This belongs to the verified spine of the entry, the layer everything else is measured against. 'SS Eastland site' documents the entry. Documented ground is what separates this file from pure legend — this is part of it.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":null,"date_end":"1915-07-24","confidence":null,"source":{"name":"SS Eastland site","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Eastland","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"legends":[{"name":null,"summary":"The dead are reportedly seen. Eastland site in Chicago, Illinois carries the report the way old places do — as part of its identity. 'SS Eastland site' preserves the telling; the record keeps it filed where it belongs, as lore. 'SS Eastland site' carries the account. It's the version the place will be remembered by, whether or not it's the true one.","earliest":null,"evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","source":{"name":"SS Eastland site","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Eastland","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"entities":[{"name":"The Eastland dead","claimed_identity":"The Eastland dead","verified":null,"summary":"The dead are reportedly seen. The accounts name only a collective — the Eastland dead. Eastland site in Chicago, Illinois carries the report the way old places do — as part of its identity. Sources including 'SS Eastland site' keep the claim in circulation. The file keeps The Eastland dead on the roster; the sightings keep the name alive.","behavior":"The dead are reportedly seen.","area":null,"first_ref":null,"source":{"name":"SS Eastland site","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Eastland","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Site access varies; verify before visiting.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"SS Eastland site","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Eastland","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":2,"history":1,"legends":1,"entities":1,"sources":1}}